Fastener for lacings



No. 622,448. Patented Apr. 4, I899.

C. A. BOOK.

FASTENEB FOR LACINGS.

(Application filed Fab. 19, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLIFFORD A. COOK, OF MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

FASTENER FOR-LAC|NGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 622,448, dated April 4, 1899.

Application filed February 19, 1898. Serial No. 670,914. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD A. COOK, of Milford, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Fasteners for Lacings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is a device for fastening or looking the ends of shoe strings or lacings at the top of a laced shoe, gloves, &c.

In general my invention comprises a hook or gooseneck over which a two-legged saddle-like clamp is caused to pinch in the bent lacing.

The details of my invention will more fully appear in the course of the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of a preferred embodiment thereof, and the invention will be more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows in side elevation a shoe provided with my fastening. Figs. 2 to 4 are enlarged details, in side elevation, showing the fastening respectively open, partlyclosed, and entirely closed. Fig. 5 is a front end elevation looking toward the right, Fig. 3. looking toward the right, Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 4. Figs. 8 and 9 show in side elevation and perspective, respectively, a modified form of fastener.

The shoe a may be provided with eyelets a and hooks a and lacings a of any usual or preferred kind and arrangement.

As is well known, it is extremely difl'icnlt to secure the lacings or shoestrings at their upper meeting ends'by tying, and various locking devices have been suggested therefor; but so far as I am aware these have all been defective for one reason or another, either cutting the string or permitting it to slip. Accordingly I have devised the inven-,

tion herein described, being shown in position at a Fig. 1, and in enlarged detail in the remaining figures.

Referring to Figs. 2 to 7, b designates a base of any suitable kind for securing the fastener to the top of the shoe. Projecting upwardly Fig. 6 is a similar elevation from this base is a hook or gooseneck Z), having a notch or slit 5 at its rear edge, within which the shoestring may be caught, as indicated in dotted lines in the figures. Adjacent to or on this hook or gooseneck is mounted, preferably bya pivot b a locking-clamp b*, of saddle-like form, bifurcated at its forward end, so as to provide thetwo legs I), as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 7.

Instead of pivoting the clamp as shown at b it may be mounted in various other positions, one being shown in Figs. 8 and 9, where the clamp b is shown in the form of a loop having its two legs pivoted at their lower ends at 12 in the base of the hook, the latter having preferably a flattened head I), under the projecting edges of which the lacing may be drawn and clamped, as shown in Fig. 8.

In operation the shoe-lacing is pulled to the tension desired for comfort and appearance and is then caught over the hook or gooseneck, as shown inthe drawings, the lockingclamp being then in the position shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 9, and then the locking-clamp is simply swung over into the position Figs. 4 and 8, thereby immovably gripping the lacing in locked position. As the clamp 6 gets into the position Fig. 3 its legs b engage the lacing and crowd it tightly against the sides of the gooseneck, with a sharp bend over the inner end of the notch b so that when the clamp is depressed into the positionshown in Fig. 4 the shoestring is pinched in such position that it cannot possibly become loosened; also, the locking-clamp b rests in such close proximity to the shoe-top that it cannot become accidentally unlocked. The same is true of the modified form of fastener.

When the lacing is to be removed, the wearer catches his finger under the lookingclamp and instantly swings it away from its engagement with the lacing, leaving the latter perfectly free to be removed from the hook.

I do not restrict my invention to the precise form and arrangement herein shown, inasmuch as many changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, nor is it restricted to use with shoe-lacings, as it will be obvious that it may be equally well applied to gloves or other articles wherein lacings are used.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A fastener for securing shoe lacings, comprising a stationary hook adapted to receive the lacing, and a locking-clamp engaging the lacing on the opposite sides of saidhook, and gripping the lacing between it and the said sides of the hook, substantially as described.

2. A lacing-fastener comprisinga hook and a locking-clamp pivotally mounted on said hook, and having opposite portions adjacent the respective sides of the hook and engaging the lacing at said opposite sidesof the 3. A lacing-fastener comprising a hook in the form ofa gooseneck, and a saddle-like device pivoted in said hook and straddling the latter, said device having its legs arranged slightly away from the respective sides of the hook for bending the lacing sharply about the hook and clamping it against the sides thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CLIFFORD A. COOK. Witnesses:

J OHN C. EDWARDS, AUGUSTA E. DEAN 

